An afternoon shooting with my Grand Daughter

Wednesday afternoon my oldest grand daughter and I went to the dump outside Estacada, Oregon for a little grand daughter - grampa time.

This was a request from her, the time together that is, the suggestion to go shooting was mine but I could tell by the way her eyes lit up that shooting was what she had in mind.

It was HOT up on the mountain and we only had a couple of hours so we started with her shooting my Ruger 22/45, this is her favorite of all of my guns she has shot.

Her first time shooting, this was only her third time, she did great, the second not so good, so this time I went back to the basics and she showed some real improvement.

After we both shot the heck out of the Ruger, she shot the single action .22 or the "cowboy gun" as she calls it. Then I asked her if it was ok if I shot my carry weapon, she said sure.

I carry a Ruger P90 .45, for the 2 of you who didn't know. Anyway, after making cans and plastic bottles jump around for the better part of a box of shells, she decided she would like to try it. This is not her favorite gun, but it is the one she shoots best.

After a while we moved on to the shotguns. Last trip she fired her first long gun, a small .410 break open of ancient vintage, so we started with that. After correcting her hold and making sure she was getting her cheek down on the stock it was time to move to my duck gun.

It is a Benelli Nova pump chambered for everything up to 3.5'" shells, no, I did not put any 3.5's in it, I used light field loads. Showed her how to load and work the action, fired a couple of shots to show her and gave it to her.

This is a heavy gun for her but she suffered through holding it while we adjusted her hold, and me making sure she wouldn't pull it away from anyplace it should be tight against. She was nervous, but she trusts that grampa won't have her do anything that will hurt her. I had told her that if she did it right it wouldn't hurt. Well, she fired one shot from it, big grin, no pain. Next time she will shoot more with it.

I think the big trick with new shooters is to let them progress at their own pace and not yours. I asked her at the end of each magazine or two if she was getting tired, or if she wanted to try something else. I let her set the pace of the afternoon. Judging from what she told the people when we got home, she had a great time.

After the sun and heat got to us we packed up and headed for home, where she and I were cooking dinner for both families. We stopped on the way and had ice tea and french fries and onion rings. We also stopped and bought some stuff for dinner, and I got her a cake. Today is her 18th birthday.

She will be going to college here, so there will be more days like this.

I have said it before, but it bares repeating.

I believe that grand daughters are put on earth to make old men feel important again.

That is a great story.
I'm 23, and I still enjoy spending time with my grandfathers. (Ya, I'm lucky, they are still both living.)

pauli

July 22, 2005, 01:16 PM

I believe that grand daughters are put on earth to make old men feel important again.

it's been said that men don't have kids to have kids... they have kids to have GRAND kids.

middy

July 22, 2005, 03:18 PM

How old is she?

Why can't all granddads be like you? ;)

Missouri Mule

July 22, 2005, 04:20 PM

DM,
Good on you, fine Sir! ;)

Excellent story!
MM

Double Maduro

July 22, 2005, 04:48 PM

Middy,

Today is her 18th birthday.

She graduated from high school with a 4.0 gpa. Is starting college this fall and she already has 21 credits under her belt, from advanced placement courses.

When she was on the debate team at high school, she was 14, the topic was gun control. I saw her working on it, but didn't give any guidance other than to ask which side she was on, she said anti gun control. I let it drop there.

The next time I saw her I asked how the debate went. She said, "We creamed them!". I asked how she felt about gun control laws and she said, "They are stupid."

At this point she had never had a gun in her hands, much less fired one.

One thing she told me yesterday, we have always been able to talk about anything, is that boys are really impressed by the fact that she shoots. She has the targets from our first trip on her wall.

Oh, and before I forget, she is not only smart and a good shot, she is pleasant, caring and drop-dead gorgeous. That isn't just a proud grampa talking either, everyone says so.

OK, OK, I'll stop now. But, at 18, she really is a special person, I can't wait until we get to go again.